Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ The Gift ❯ The Gift 14 ( Chapter 14 )

The Gift 14 by Kaialicious

Disclaimer: I make no profit from the characters of The Pet Shop of Horrors. They belong to Matsuri Akino. Li, Shang, and Lynn, however, are of my own creation and do belong to me…, D…, and no one else...for now.

Warnings: This story contains suggestions of a Yaoi relationship. If you don't like Yaoi, then you're not even supposed to be reading this warning because I previously warned you about it in the description!

Author's Note: It's almost over. I want to cry, but I have to be brave. This chapter is dedicated to Ana who I am sure will be crying along with me when The Gift is finally over. ^,_^

*****

Lynn was stretched out on his stomach, topless. His chin rested on his folded arms.

D sat down beside him and carefully applied the mint green salve to the young male's back.

The scars that covered his flesh were wide and ragged at the edges. They were only on Lynn's back and stomach. His arms, legs and face had been completely untouched. This puzzled D. If Shang had used the jade bottle on his lover, Lynn's entire body was supposed to be covered with the horrible marks.

"How did you manage to survive?" D asked him.

"Shang returned it to the bottle before it could do me any more harm."

"He can control it. How is that possible?"

Lynn looked at him. His eyes were filled with uncertainty.

"Tell me," D insisted.

Lynn lowered his cheek on to his arms and said, "He poured some of his blood and Li's ashes into the bottle."

D went still. How could he have done such a thing?

Shang had desecrated his brother's remains for his personal gain. Was that why Li had returned? His body had been disturbed and now his spirit could not find rest.

Shang is mad, he thought. He would have to tell Li what his brother had done. D could not imagine that Li would ever forgive Shang.

As for Shang's evil plans, D did not intend to fall into his hands. He was strong enough to fight him even if he did use the jade bottle.

"How did Shang acquire the jade bottle in the first place?"

"I cannot tell you that," Lynn said. "I do not know."

D believed him.

"You fear him," Lynn said.

"I despise him."

"Maybe so, but you fear him all the same."

"Were you not afraid, when he hurt you?" D asked.

Lynn's eyes became distant. When he did not answer D, the count continued to apply salve to his skin.

A few minutes later, when D thought that the young dragon had fallen asleep, he heard him say, "I was very afraid."

D laid a hand on his shoulder. He knew that it had been hard for him to admit it. Lynn was so young, but no longer fearless. Shang had changed him and shown him how cruel he could be.

D was still amazed that Lynn had survived Shang's sick deed. He had thought that no one could endure the darkness that was contained in the bottle. It was evil and destructive -a devourer of the flesh and a destroyer of the soul. D refused to believe that Shang's control alone had stopped Lynn from perishing. Was Lynn more than he seemed? D was beginning to wonder...

*****

Jill placed a cup of coffee on his desk along with a muffin. "I thought that you could use something to eat," she said when he bit into the baked treat.

It was honey sweet. Leon washed it down with the coffee. "Thanks."

"Does the count eat blueberry muffins?"

"He eats whatever has a high sugar content," Leon muttered and brushed a few crumbs off the file he was reading.

"You need a haircut…and a dye job," she told him.

"What, more gray?"

"You don't look at yourself in the mirror do you?"

"I try not to," he said. He didn't want to see Li looking back at him, so he covered the mirrors in his bedroom and bathroom in an effort to suppress his hostile feelings towards the dragon prince.

Jill removed her glasses and crossed her arms. "Your eyes are a little darker too."

"Thanks for the coffee, Jill," Leon said signaling the end of their conversation. He didn't want to talk about his appearance. He preferred to pretend that nothing was going on, just as he had done when he was supposed to have given the count some space.

Leon remembered how difficult it had been trying to keep away from D for two hundred and seventy nine days. He had lied to Jill about that. In actuality, he had seen D, but from afar. When the count made his visits to the other shops around Chinatown, Leon had been there to watch over him, out of D's sight. Of course the count had caught him watching him once or twice and had smiled and acted all coy. Leon knew that they had been playing a game, one as powerful as the need that he felt for D.

It wasn't Leon and the count's fault that his work took him in that direction of Chinatown on the same days that D happened to be there. Yes, he had used his work as an excuse, and at night had suffered for it with his arousal. He would never admit to anyone other than himself what he had done. Three weeks seemed more forgivable than two hundred and seventy nine days. That was why he had told Jill the half-truth. He felt guilty now that he was reflecting on it. She had come through for him a couple of times. She had doused tea on Shang's lap, a definite plus in Leon's book.

Maybe he should tell her that he had lied - just to clear his conscience.

He was about to call her over when he looked up and saw the dragon prince, Shang, walking towards him.

What the hell is he doing here?

"Leon Orcot," Shang's voice was cool and carried a faint tinge of his Asian accent.

"Can I help you?" To the nearest airport?

Jill looked up from her desk and saw him. She and Shang exchanged cold looks.

Leon hid a smile and said, "I see that you have met Jill."

Shang's turquoise eyes filled with anger. "Briefly. She is a disrespectful nuisance."

Leon furrowed his brow. "Jill?"

"I suggest that you tell her to stay away from the count. I do not like the idea of the two of them spending time together. Her bad habits may rub off on him."

Leon laughed. "I seriously doubt that that could happen. Jill's an angel."

"She is more like a demon!"

Leon was surprised by Shang's conviction. Leon held up a hand to halt him and said, "All right, there's no need to get upset. I'm sure that she had her reasons for being -"

Shang looked at him in shock.

"What?" Leon asked.

"You speak Chinese. D did not mention this to me."

"I don't speak…" he suddenly realized his error. He focused on the words that he had said. Yes, they sounded foreign to him. "I guess I do speak Chinese."

Li had given him the ability. The clever bastard.

"I underestimated you, detective," Shang said.

"So many do," Leon boasted.

The corners of Shang's mouth twitched. Leon wondered if he had ruffled the dragon's perfectly cold exterior.

"The count is in dire need of attention. Perhaps I should offer him my services," Shang said harshly, in an attempt to anger him.

"You and I both know that D doesn't want to be with you," Leon told him. "He won't break his mourning and I won't interrupt it either."

"Are you saying that you do not feel the need for him?"

"I want him, but not at the price of losing him to you."

"Humph," he sneered. "I will win him easily enough."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"You Americans are so weak when it comes to self-discipline. Did you not already visit him with the intent to take him? I smelled your scent in his shop. Every time that you were there, I smelled D's heat for you as well."

Leon's features hardened. His eyes darkened with rage.

"You see? You can barely contain your emotions. I will win him," Shang repeated.

"You will win nothing." Leon's voice had changed in tone. His very posture had changed as well.

Shang's turquoise eyes studied the detective. He suddenly noticed the detective's hair -long gray strands interspersed with golden blond locks. One good look at the mortal and he knew.

"Li…"

His brother's eyes were staring back at him -the amethyst orbs filled with contempt.

Shang steeled his features. He was not about to let the shock of his brother's presence in this mortal's body affect him. He was still entitled to claiming D as his consort. Nothing was going to stop him, not even Li's strange rebirth.

"My dear brother," he said, "are you aware that you are within a mortal's body?"

"I am aware of many things, Shang, including the fact that you are here to take D. Yes. I am aware of your plans for him."

"I doubt that you are," Shang replied.

"I forbid you to pursue him."

Shang laughed dryly, "You forbid me? It is a little too late for that, Li."

"I warn you," Li said. "If you dare go against me, if you dare break his mourning I will -!"

"You will what? Challenge me? Look at you, Li, you are in a mortal's body! How degrading," Shang smirked. "It would be easy for the detective to perish…with you along with him."

"I assure you, Shang. I have taken precautions to ensure that this human will not come to any harm," Li smiled and tugged the neckline of the detective's t-shirt down.

Shang's eyes widened as he spotted the well-defined mark on the detective's neck. Shang glared at him.

"I may be in a mortal's body, but I still possess some of my gifts. It would be easy to defend what is mine," Li said. "Make no mistake about that."

"You are dead! Your body is gone! The count is no longer yours! From what I understand, he killed you to be with this revolting mortal! How can you say that D is still yours?"

"Because it is so," Li told him. "I came back for a reason. I thought that it was to seek revenge on this human for taking my D. But now I see that I came back to protect D from you."

Shang glowered at him. "Your sentiment is touching, but I do not think that that is why you are still here."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say, dear brother, that you were more useful to me than you may realize." Shang's gaze shifted for a few seconds. "Do bring the detective back. That four eyed demon woman is getting suspicious."

Indeed, the woman known as Jill was looking at Li/Leon with concern. Li ignored her and turned his gaze to his brother. "Stay away from D, Shang."

"Your warning has been duly noted, but I did not come to America to return home empty handed."

Li felt his temper flare. He tried very hard not to leap from the desk and rip out Shang's throat. They had an audience. It would be foolhardy to reveal that the detective was not who he appeared to be.

Li clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into his palms and asked, "What of Lynn?"

"What about him?"

"What do you intend to do with him? Is he even still with you? I would imagine that he would have stopped worshipping you by now."

Shang seemed angry at his words. "I intend to keep him. There is still so much for me to teach him."

"You mean how to steal what is not yours?"

Shang ignored his cutting reply. "He serves his purpose and he is quite devoted to me. Too bad the count was not as loyal to you."

Li growled and stood up from the desk.

"Your eyes are flashing, Li. Careful…you could give the mortal a heart attack."

Yes, he must not push the detective's body too far, but Shang's arrogance was making it very difficult for him to maintain his calm.

"Where are you staying?"

"Why, are you planning to pay me a visit -perhaps to kill me in my sleep?" Shang loosened his tie, opened his collar, and showed Li his bare neck. "It will be difficult to accomplish, considering that we are not one right now."

Li gasped. "Where is it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Shang grinned.

"Where are you staying, Shang?" Li repeated more evenly.

Shang told him then said, "Do come by. Lynn will be happy to see you."

"You brought him with you?"

"You know how restless he can get. I put his energies to good use. Maybe you could do the same."

Li said nothing. He had taken Lynn before, it was true, but only because he had needed the relief when D had abandoned him. He had not regretted it. D was well aware of his limitations.

"You know where to reach us, brother," Shang said and took his leave.

Li unclenched his fists. The detective's wound, which D had so carefully bandaged, was bleeding.

Li curiously touched the crimson stained gauze to a pencil. The yellow paint on the pencil began to boil and slowly melt away.

"Leon?"

Li swept the pencil off the desk and into the trash receptacle. The woman Jill was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Li scanned his memory. What would the detective say? Something unrefined.

"Yeah, Jill. Don't be a damn nag."

"Your hand -"

"I'll take care of it," he told her.

Jill crossed her arms. "You two were really going at it. Since when did you start speaking Chinese?"

"D -um, the count has been teaching me."

"Funny, you've never mentioned this to me before."

Li shrugged. "I didn't think that it was important."

"Hmm…"

Li headed for the restroom before Jill could ask him any more questions. It was best that he brought back the detective. Leon would do a better job at keeping the woman's uncertainties at bay.

*****

Shang was tempted to return to the count's, just to spite Li, but he decided to go back to his suite and wait for Lynn.

His little lover was with the count.

Lynn's scent, mingled with the incense from the shop and D's very distinctive sweet smell stimulated him.

He wondered how it would feel to have both of them in his bed. He imagined that it would not be long until he had the opportunity to find out. The count was going to be his one way or the other. Even if he had to force himself upon him.

*****

"You are such a naughty boy," D wagged his finger at Lynn's red-orange dragon. The creature had managed to open the latch to the blue dragon's cage. "No, no, he is not well enough to play with you."

Lynn's dragon cocked its head and released steam from its nostrils. The animal snapped at the count's fingers as he closed the latch. Lynn laughed.

D frowned at the younger male. "You are both wild."

Q-Chan was perched on Lynn's shoulder. Q-Chan had allowed Lynn to pet him, to D's surprise. D's pet was very selective as to who could touch him. Sometimes Q-Chan was also selective as to who could touch D. The fact that Lynn had been very close to D without inciting Q-Chan's wrath puzzled the count.

Q-Chan batted at the golden dragon earring in Lynn's right ear. The amber gemstone within the intricately designed adornment caught D's attention. The amber represented Lynn's eyes, he was certain, but amber eyes were a rare thing in dragons. Was Lynn a hybrid dragon? It would make sense.

D studied his youthful features. He was definitely of the dragon race. He had the spirit animal to prove it.

Lynn caught him watching him.

D smiled and said, "I am curious as to your ancestry."

"Many are," the young dragon shrugged.

"Who are your relatives?" D asked.

"I do not know, nor do I want to know."

Such an indifferent attitude, D thought. "You are not concerned about your lineage?"

"Why should I be?" he frowned. "I have Shang and he is all the family that I need."

"Yes, but for how long?"

Lynn looked at him. His eyes wavered with emotion. "Shang will never leave me. I already told you."

Lynn loved the dragon warrior. It was a pity.

"Lynn…"

"I must go. I have been gone long enough." He carefully removed Q-Chan from his shoulder and handed him to D. His dragon came to him and settled back into the form of a harmless looking tattoo on his neck.

Lynn bowed to D and said, "I came here wanting to hate you, but I see that my hate was pointless. You are far too kind, my lord."

D smiled. "You may visit me whenever you wish, Lynn. I enjoyed your company."

Lynn's cheeks turned pink. The count had bestowed a great honor upon him. Lynn bowed again and said goodbye to Q-Chan.

He would have to take a taxi. The door attendant at the hotel had shown him how it was done. He left the shop and halted on the sidewalk.

"Mr. Lynn?" A man dressed in a black suit and hat stood before a luxury vehicle parked in front of the shop.

"Yes?"

"I am to take you back to the hotel, sir."

Shang had sent him his limo. Had his lover become impatient?

Usually Lynn would take pleasure in knowing that he had angered Shang. An angry Shang ensured a most heated encounter, but Lynn had grown wary of the blue dragon's temper. Shang was now too dependant on the jade bottle, and Lynn did not know how much more of it he could take.

*****

"Shit…" Leon leaned against the sink and fought the wave of dizziness that claimed him. He looked up at the mirror. Li was there, watching him.

"What do you want?"

"We have to go to Shang's."

"We don't have to go anywhere. After work, I have to go to D's. You can go to hell for all I care."

Li growled out his frustration and said, "You don't understand. Shang is up to something."

Leon straightened up from the sink. Was Li being serious? "Are you sure?"

"You do not believe me?"

"For all I know it could be one of your tricks -sending me into the dragon's den."

"Why would I trick you? Whatever happens to you will also happen to me, you fool."

Leon glared at him. "Watch your mouth."

"What does D see in you?"

Leon gave him the finger.

*****

Shang was waiting for him when he returned to their suite. His rigid exterior was expressionless as always. He was sitting in one of the comfortable leather chairs, one long leg crossed over the other. His elbows rested on the arms of the chair, his hands were clasped before him, fingers neatly interlaced.

He seemed calm. Lynn had known the dragon warrior long enough to know that he was quite livid with anger.

"Shang." His voice trembled.

Shang unfolded his hands and gestured for Lynn to come to him.

Lynn did not think twice. He went to him and Shang pulled him over his lap. He gasped as Shang held his wrists and pulled his arms roughly behind his back.

Shang sniffed at him. He smelled of D's shop -incense and vanilla and ointment.

Shang's mouth neared his, his turquoise gaze bore into Lynn's amber eyes. "What did you think of him?"

"The count?" Lynn felt himself stirring. "He is…fascinating."

"He is that." Shang kissed his chin.

Lynn tilted his head and tried to claim his lips. Shang pulled back before he could accomplish his goal.

Shang crushed Lynn's body to him, and stood. He carried Lynn into the bedroom, and deposited him on the large bed. His hands still restrained him. He pressed his weight against him, nudged his legs apart.

Lynn could feel his arousal.

"Your eyes, they remind me of him," Shang told him and tightened his grip on Lynn's wrists, nearly wrenching his arms out of their sockets.

He was hurting Lynn too much for it to be pleasurable, and his words humiliated him. Shang's obsession for the count was growing more and more each day. Lynn was starting to think that the dragon warrior did not care for him any more. Had he lost him to utter madness?

No!

Shang was focused on the jade bottle that stood on the bedside table. Lynn saw his fingers reach for it. He exhaled shakily.

"No Shang," tears blurred his vision.

"You want to help me, don't you?" Shang asked him.

"Please, Shang," Lynn pleaded, "don't."

"I need a little more practice."

Lynn's eyes widened in horror as Shang removed the top of the jade bottle. Fear smothered him to the point that when he felt the first tendril of pain, he fainted.

*****

Such a disappointment. Shang sealed up the bottle and looked down at his unconscious lover. Lynn had not lasted too long. Shang would have enjoyed it more had he remained awake. His comatose state had not stopped him from getting what he wanted. His member laid flaccid now, his desire spent.

His hands were wet with blood. He licked his stained fingers.

It had been so long since he had indulged himself on the crimson fluid. There was so much of it before him. He could not let it go to waste.

He lowered his head and began to lick his lover's gaping wounds…

*****

The dragon prince was loaded with money. He was staying at one of the most prestigious hotels in the city. Leon had to flash his badge at the front desk in order to be allowed on to the elevator.

The elevator doors were decorated with mirrors. Silk and gold plated panels covered the three walls. Classical music softly filled the filtered air. Leon scratched his head and leaned against the back wall.

"You owned a fortune, didn't you?" he asked Li. The mirrors provided him a good view of the scowling dragon prince.

"Yes."

"Then I expect to be reimbursed for all of the beer and food that you ruined in my apartment."

"That is so typical of you to think of something so insignificant at a time like this."

"Think whatever you want, but you will pay me, Li. I'm not kidding."

Li muttered a few words in Chinese. Leon actually understood them. "Hey, you kissed D with that mouth?"

"Many times," Li rubbed in, with a smirk.

Leon glowered at him and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The dragon prince was getting on his last nerves.

The elevator stopped at the top floor. Leon stepped out on to a wide marble hall.

Over there, the last door on the right, Li instructed.

Now that there were no mirrors around to project Li's image and voice, Li's words were just a mere whisper in his head.

Leon knocked on the door. No one answered.

"I guess he's not home. Let's make sure."

The receptionist had given him a keycard. He slid it through the lock and opened the door.

I smell blood, Li told him.

Leon drew his gun and carefully checked out the main room. Everything seemed in order there. He moved on to the double doors that separated the bedroom from the sitting and dining area.

The smell is coming from behind these doors.

"I got it," Leon said and threw one of the doors open. The room was clear, with the exception of a small, lifeless form that was on the bed. Leon put away his gun and swore.

Blood was all over the bed. It stained the sheets and the figure beneath them. Long, red-orange hair hung over the side of the bed.

Lynn…

He was young. He looked about nineteen or twenty. His skin was covered with lacerations from the neck down.

"What the hell happened to him?"

Shang did this.

"How? Why didn't he fight him?" Leon asked.

Because he could not or would not, Li told him.

"We can't call an ambulance." His blood was volatile and his condition would bring too many questions. "What should we do with him?"

He appears to be healing. He is alive…

Leon looked at the young man's wounds. Yes, the ugly slashes had stopped bleeding.

Wake him.

"I can't. His blood will burn a hole through my hand," Leon pointed out.

You are no longer affected by it. My blood runs through your veins now.

"If you wanted to make me upset, congratulations, you've succeeded." Leon crouched down beside the bed and moved the young man's hair out of his face. He gently slapped Lynn's cheek and wakened him. Big amber eyes looked up at him, blinked once, twice, and then filled with tears.

Li decided to push the detective aside and handle the situation on his own.

"Lynn," he spoke in their native tongue. "Do not be afraid."

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Li."

Lynn released a sound of disbelief. "No…you are not him."

Li cupped Lynn's cheek in his hand and said, "Yes, little one, it is I."

Lynn buried his face in his pillow. "Do not look at me," he pleaded.

Li held his hand and gave it a squeeze. "You'll be fine, now. You are healing already."

"Healing?" he tilted his head to look at his scarred arms. Dried blood had sealed his wounds. The two-inch wide bands were slowly diminishing in size.

"How did he do this?" Li asked.

Lynn's fingers dug into his hand.

"Tell me, Lynn."

"The jade bottle…" Lynn cried.

Li froze.

"He is gone, isn't he?"

The jade bottle…

All religions spoke of the darkness that inhabited the bottle. In some cultures, it was known as Chaos -the great mass of darkness that had existed before all other entities in the universe. It was capable of destroying anything in its path, including the all and ever-powerful kami.

Li could not believe that his own brother had gone to such extremes. He had Chaos under his control. How had he broken the spell in the temple where the bottle had remained dormant for centuries?

"He has gone to the count," Lynn muttered.

No!

Li had to stop Shang. He intended to hurt D, possibly even kill him. He would not let his beloved fall under Shang's evil scheme.

*****

Q-Chan stretched over the wide lip of the tub and pawed at a water lily. D laughed at his antics and pushed the blossom closer to his precious pet.

"Careful or you will fall in," he told him.

Q-Chan hated getting his fur wet. The lily finally was in his grasp. He picked up the blossom and started chewing on the pink and white petals. The flower's fragrance filled the air.

"You've demolished it. Are you happy now?"

Q-Chan dropped the ruined flower back into the water and flew on top of D's head. He was still ornery from his altercation with Leon that afternoon.

"Q-Chan, come down from there."

The animal hopped on to D's shoulder then flew the short distance to the edge of the tub.

"Leon will be coming over soon. Are you going to continue to behave this way?"

Q-Chan's ears perked up. His head turned towards the bathroom door.

"Q-Chan?"

The fur on Q-Chan's back rose. The count felt a sudden awareness come over him.

Someone was in the shop.

D rose from his scented bath and reached for his crimson robe. As soon as he donned it, the door opened. Shang's tall frame filled the entrance.

"Get out," D told him; frustrated that he had let himself into his bathroom.

"Not until I get what I came for," he said.

"You are really beginning to anger me, Shang," D warned him.

"Am I?" Shang stepped towards him.

D did not move.

"You want to rip my heart out…I can tell," Shang grinned.

"Just you heart?" D raised a thin eyebrow.

Shang's turquoise gaze darkened, "You hate me that much?"

"You have no idea."

"What did Lynn tell you?"

He ignored his question as Shang's scent reached him. "You smell of blood. What did you do to Lynn?"

"The same thing that I will do to you," Shang said, "only much worse."

*****

I am really starting to hate Shang. I think I'll kill him off. Maybe not. I don't know. Tune in next time, same fic different chapter.

Will I or won't I kill the blue dragon? Hmmm… ~_^